TODAY! Randy Rainbow. Debbie Almontaser. Arnold Schwarzenegger. James Corden. Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish. British Humor Dry as a Quarantini.
LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN. NEWSLETTER #98. JAN 20, 2021
I intended to post nothing but good news on this, the day that will see simple decency return to public life and discourse in the person of President Joe Biden, and history being made by Vice President Kamala Harris. (But today's euphoria can't erase the conflagration of Jan 6th and the shameless-who-shall-be-nameless #45 who lit the fuse.)
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
* The headline we've been waiting for since Jan 20, 2016:
A bitter and disgraced Trump exited the White House for the last time as the 45th president of the US. i[BuzzFeed]
* Here's your Quick link to stream the Inauguration on your preferred platform.
* Two absolutely brilliant renditions of "One Day More" went viral yesterday and for good reason. Uplifting enough to raise the roof wherever you are sheltering or working or watching or praying. Here's James Corden (above) and his friends in the theater community a(nd oh, how we miss seeing them on stage.) And this from Blue Revolution --a retrospective of what we've endured and how we got here -- finally.
* Great symbol of change! Dr. Debbie Almontaser , a Yemeni-Muslim-American will be delivering the prayer at the Inaugural Prayer Service, the first Muslim woman to be invited to do so. A particularly significant event in advance of the Biden administration retracting the Muslim Ban that has adversely impacted so many families in the past four years.
* Randy Rainbow's priceless DMT departure ceremony. "Here's how you measure 4 years stuck in hell."
* Celebrate Inauguration Day with 55 seconds of Flower Fireworks. (above)
* Encouraging Prognosis Paul Krugman predicts upbeat economy in 2021.
POLITICAL DECENCY (& INDECENCY)
* Race, religion, & ethnicity isn't why these two were elected but let's admit it's great to make history!
* Addendum to this year's Passover Haggadah: "Why was that last president different from all other presidents? For all other presidents we don't even impeach once; For that president we impeached twice."
THE INFAMY OF JANUARY 6th
* The former CA governor calls the insurrection of Jan 6th "America's Kristallnacht." Don't miss Arnold Schwarzenegger's searing video describing his painful memories of post-Nazi Germany.
* On Jan 6th Republicans spread Covid to their colleagues. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, (above), a cancer survivor, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Brad Schneider of Illinois tested positive for Covid-19 after sheltering with GOP colleagues who refused to wear masks.
* The Washington Post produced a historically important video timeline from inside the Capitol siege on Jan. 6th. ( If you can't get past the newspaper's paywall, subscribe for $29 a year and get access to WashPost reporting while supporting mainstream journalism.) The Post's examination of video, texts and other evidence shows how perilously close lawmakers came to the enraged mob.
Here's the lede to the WashPost story: "At 2:12 p.m. on Jan. 6, supporters of President Trump began climbing through a window they had smashed on the northwest side of the U.S. Capitol. “Go! Go! Go!” someone shouted as the rioters, some in military gear, streamed in. It was the start of the most serious attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812. The mob coursed through the building, enraged that Congress was preparing to make Trump’s electoral defeat official. “Drag them out! … Hang them out!” rioters yelled at one point, as they gathered near the House chamber."
* Below is America's future if right wing domestic terrorists ever get a foothold in elected office. Keep up the work. Keep organizing. Keep registering voters. Never forget this image:
The nation's gratitude goes to the floor staff at the Capitol who had the presence of mind to rescue the boxes of electoral ballots so the marauding mob couldn't set them on fire.
* Good tech, Bad tech
* Watch robots shake it up to "Do You Love Me" from Dirty Dancing.
* Zuckerberg (above) puts his finger on the problem he created.
* Opera unexpected; Dublin; Ukraine, Grenoble, France, Washington, DC. and Chelsea, NYà
* Touching documentary about Holocaust survivors who spent summers together in a bungalow colony in the Catskills:.'The Four Seasons Lodge,' (2009) . Quote from one online review: "These people went through unimaginable horrors during WWII, yet they overcame all of it, built a beautiful life in America, cherished their friendships with each other and found pure joy in just being together. This is the true definition of love. It will make you laugh and cry, and sometimes at the same time. Highly recommended!"
* My last Newsletter raved about "Esther and the Dream of One Loving Human , the exhibit of Esther Krinitz' amazing fabric art (above) on display at the American Visionary Museum. Now, thanks to Bernice Steinhardt, daughter of the late artist, you can see this lovely 30-min. film about Krinitz, Through the Eye of a Needle."
COVID
* Hilarious advice from British expert regarding new rules to mitigate spread of Covid-19.
Our fearless leader
Got vaccinated last week in NYC. It's not as easy as it should be to get one but keep trying and you'll find a slot. And please continue social distancing and wearing your mask after you're vaccinated so you don't give the appearance of being an anti-masker.
HAPPY DAY 1 OF THE BIDEN-HARRIS ERA!
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